Windows RT
tablets are coming. Soon. Very soon. “What’s Windows RT” you ask? Well, it would take a scientist to explain it and we unfortunately don’t have one on staff (yet). Thankfully, we do have Seth Rosenblatt, who’s all too happy (or as close as he gets to happy) to break it down for you.
For those not looking to have anything broken, I’ll give you the basic gist. Windows RT is essentially the “lite” version of Windows 8. It runs on ARM processors (cheaper and more energy efficient than their Intel counterparts) and is optimized for Microsoft’s Windows 8 Metro interface.
Of the first batch of RT tablets, the most anticipated is undoubtedly the Microsoft Surface RT. The future of Windows tablets is riding on the success of the Surface, which itself is riding on the price Microsoft decides for it.
Let’s hope it aims low, but based on the Windows RT prices we’ve seen so far (see below) you may want to start saving those pennies.
Anyway, here a list of the first wave of Windows RT tablets. All of which should be on shelves by the the end of the year.
The Dell XPS 10 includes a keyboard dock with trackpad.
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Dell XPS 10
The Dell XPS 10 houses an as-of-yet unidentified ARM CPU and will include microSD, USB slots, and a touchpad keyboard. No word on price yet, but expect something in the “Wow, I’d love for that price to be a bit lower” range, though I’m hoping for lower.
Read the full review.
Yeah
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Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11
At $799, the Yoga 11 is currently the most expensive RT tablet. That’s partly because most RT tablet pricing has yet to be revealed, but additionally, the Yoga 11 is just really expensive. It does come with an attached keyboard that flips under the tablet, propping it up, yoga-style. Now it all makes sense right? Right?Read the full review.
The Vivo RT has its work cut out for it if it hopes to justify its $599 price.
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Asus Vivo Tab RT
The Vivo Tab RT will sport a $599 pricetag, a Tegra 3 CPU, and a 1366×768 screen. That price unfortunately doesn’t include the optional keyboard dock to be offered by Asus. Read the full review.
Samsung’s Atib Tab apparently hasn’t been photographed by anyone outside of Samsung just yet.
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Samsung Ativ Tab
The Ativ Tab goes the Qualcomm route, housing a Snapdragon S4 (APQ8060A) processor as its brains. It’ll also sport dual cameras and be available on ATT’s 4G LTE network. Read the full review.
Microsoft Surface may be the best chance for Windows RT’s success. Much however will depend on its price.
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Josh Lowhensohn/CNET
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Microsoft Surface RT
Ah, the big daddy of Windows RT tablets. Microsoft’s Surface will be the standard against which all other Windows tablets are judged. It’s feature-rich with high levels of production pumped into it, but the biggest question is still price. With only a few weeks left before its assumed late October debut, we still have no official word on how much it’ll cost. Surface’s price relative to other tablets in the market will factor very heavily into its success or failure. Read the full review.
Looking for specs and pricing? Compare these tablets head-to-head.
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